


Life happens

by TailorFox



Category: Friends (TV)
Genre: 1 Sentence Fiction, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Gen, M/M, Post-Canon, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-04
Updated: 2019-05-07
Packaged: 2020-01-04 18:02:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 1,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18348857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TailorFox/pseuds/TailorFox
Summary: A few glimpses on Chandler's life (and Joey & Chandler's relationship) from 1994 to present.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've done my best but I'm not a native speaker, feel free to correct me. I'm also looking for a beta as more is to come ! I hope you'll enjoy this.

  1. **King**



Finding Joey prostrate on the couch in front of the Lion King is the most hilarious yet adorable thing to see, especially when he asks Chandler to pet his hair, distraught from Mufasa’s death.

  1. **Gentle**



When he first hears Joey saying, « Be gentle, okay? », all puppy-brown eyes and gloriously naked, he’s in fact holding a wax strip which Joey doesn’t dare to pull away himself.

  1. **One**



When a more than drunk Joey embraces him and begs « only one kiss, Chan- », he reluctantly pushes him away because it is sadly the right thing to do.

  1. **Blur**



The wet dream is still a bit of a blur when he wakes up, but surprisingly Chandler doesn’t remember any breast or satiny flesh, only cologne-scented skin, rock hard abs and dark hair.

  1. **Cool**



“Phoebe taught me some cool stuff”, explains Joey while Chandler is moaning, shirtless and eyes closed, enjoying the perfectly executed back rub.

  1. **Thousand**



Paying the bills to let him pursue his career, offering him the last slice of pizza or not telling anyone Joey sings in the shower are only some of his thousand weird ways to say, “I adore you”.

  1. **Hold**



“Hold on” says Joey, focusing on how exhausted Chandler looks instead of listening to the pneumologist’s opaque explanations.

  1. **Soul**



Sometimes, Chandler wishes he could tell his anxious younger self what he knows now: the only thing that _matters_ when it comes to true love is that gender _shouldn't matter_.

  1. **Last**



Chandler sighs, hands entwined in his hair “Jo- If you continue, I swear I won’t last long.”; Joey chuckles.

  1. **Young**



They’re forty-something, gasping and cuddling when Chandler painfully admits, “We should have tried this when we were younger.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Non-chronological order. I do my best but, feel free to correct me if there are any mistake.

  1. **Precious**



Sex happened once in their early twenties; it was supposed to be a secret one-time thing and ended up being the sweetest private joke they ever had.

  1. H **istory**



In fact, that time was more a session of mutual shameless wanking in front of Baywatch than a real intercourse, but Joey decided it counted as a first time, because it did involve a not-so-bad beer-tasting kiss.

  1. **Need**



The night Monica proposes, as Joey closes the door on a such intimate moment, he can’t help but feel privileged, proud, thrilled, nervous and yet, a bit sad and envious, but utterly happy he insists- _God, he's going to sound like Ross; the English language definitely needs a word for that kind of feeling._

  1. **Child**



Watching Joey playing football with Emma, Ross sadly suggests a thought Chandler always have agreed to: “Don’t you think he would have made the best father out of the three of us?”

  1. **Mad**



“You’re cute when you’re mad,” says Joey, getting Chandler even madder. And cuter.

  1. **Ghost**



“It’s over, we agreed to divorce.”, Monica says on 2012, 3rd March, looking pale as a ghost while they’re five sitting around the dinner table, Chandler standing on the other side of the room, cruelly unable to cry. 

  1. **Book**



“You, Joey Tribbiani, reading books? “Astonished, Chandler picks up the one on Joey’s nightstand to catch the title and chuckles: “Fifty shades, seriously?”  

  1. **Brother**



 It used to bother Joey that Chandler had never told him something like “You’re like a brother to me” or “I wish I’d had a brother like you”, but since Chandler is passionately pushing him against a wall, he’s relieved he has never heard such a thing.  

  1. **Safe**



One of the few times Chandler saw Joey blushing was when his now-boyfriend handed him some blood tests results, “I’m safe. I wondered if we could- You know- Drop the _unnecessary thing_?”

  1. **Change**



Chandler’s hair goes greyer and greyer; wrinkles appear around his tired blue eyes and he surely has put on some weight, but all it takes to make Joey fall again is one of his mischievous smiles.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Exceptionally, those few bits are in chronological order. It starts with Chandler & Monica's divorce (I've already written about it in last chapter). Thanks a lot for the kuddos and sweet comments!

  1. **Torn**



“I absolutely understand nothing of this lawyers’ letter, maybe we should purchase Divorce for dummies”; for the first time in weeks, Monica bursts into laughter, a wonderful sound to his ears.

  1. **Wall**



“Here we go again”, Chandler says to his best friend, surrounded by boxes and pile of clothes in an apartment which is not his own, and yet feels somehow familiar.

  1. **Shadow**



“Like father like son”, mumbles Chandler while looking at himself in the bathroom mirror and seeing nothing but an old divorced miserable man in a fancy suit. 

  1. **Hide**



“Don’t freak out, judging you because I came back earlier and caught you red-handed with some guy is not a _Joey-Tribbiani-thing_ and seriously, you shouldn’t be ashamed: he was gorgeous, _Casanova_.”

  1. **Stop**



It was peaceful Sunday morning until Joey opened his mouth and Chandler spat milk on his keyboard, horrified; “Google it if you want, but I’m not explaining to my forty years old best friend how gay sex works.”

  1. **Naked**



Days later, Joey’s computer on his laps, Chandler drops his jaw open when he realizes his roommate followed his advice to the letter as the browser displays a previously viewed soft gay Pornhub video.

  1. **Attention**



When Chandler sarcastically asks Joey if he had enjoyed his recent research, he certainly wasn’t expecting Joey to sit beside him, continuing his awkward interrogation with an such interested tone; “Come on, you can tell me- I know it’s not my business and it’s definitely not my thing, I’m just being curious-”

  1. **Wait**



“This guy sucks, I can’t believe he dumped you because you needed time- I mean, you just divorced”, Joey hugs him fiercely, “If I were him, I’d wait a couple of _days_ easily… and you know how impatient I am !”

  1. **(Super)Power**



“Someone’s in love”, Phoebe hums, incredibly happy to receive an unexpected visit from Joey, until her sixth sense ruins everything and she starts panicking, “God, and it’s really complicated. Come one, tell me- Who is she—Is it a she, I’m not even sure!” 

  1. **Sudden**



Joey is only sure about one thing, well maybe two--; first, it’s not a classic love at first sight, it’s the combination of some improbable events, the whole divorcing _slash_ moving in _slash_ coming out mess, and the slow realization of the inevitable truth which is of all the human beings on Earth, Chandler would be his first choice when it comes to whom he’d want to share the rest of his life with— _if only Chandler were a girl_. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I've done my best but if you see any mistake, leave a comment ;-)

  1. **Now**



Standing in the refrigerator light, the air is thick with arousal and Joey’s lips brushing his while he’s asking, eyes closed; “Jo- If you promise me you won’t let me ruin this, then I’m yours.”

  1. **Hunger**



Boys will be boys and Joey will always be Joey; thinks Chandler as Joey’s stomach gurgles loudly while they’re undressing each other for the first time.

  1. **Fortune**



“I think it’s time to confess-- I don’t know how to tell you this- I’m not gay : I’ve always liked women and always will but I like men… too, some of them at least,”, Chandler couldn’t even look her in the eye as she says fatalistic, “Must be a Geller thing, I think.”

  1. **Wrong**



Joey was visibly looking out for his yearly health-check, “Have you asked about quit-smoking tips?”, Chandler instantly killed the mood, “Didn’t have to- Cancer is a pretty good one.”

  1. **Vision**  
  
“I’ll never leave you alone, I’ll come back and haunt you,” once said Chandler; “What for ?”, asked Joey, their light tone contrasting with the inner fear they were repressing, “I’ll pull your feet at night and tell you I want my money back.”  
  

  2. **Never**



Experiencing the exquisite pleasure of cupping his boyfriend’s gorgeous backside was already a thing, but when an aroused Joey moaned “Come on, be my first”, Chandler was sure he’ll never know a greater privilege.

  1. **Fool**



“I’m the childless only son of a Catholic Italian family and I love a man—It’s not as easy as it seems,”; Joey might be easy-going, Chandler sometimes underestimate his roommate’s courage.  

  1. **Motion**



That night, Chandler is asleep, and Joey is watching every time his lover’s chest arise.

  1. **Harm**



“They proposed me medications to “keep me comfortable”; come on, I’ve never been comfortable with anything in my life!”; sadly, Joey can’t deny.

  1. **God**



Chandler did overheard Mrs. Tribbiani’s phone call, “If God has decided to make you different, then… Go ahead; I’m a bit surprised, but I’m grateful he also made you fell in love with a good human-being.”


	5. Chapter 5

  1. **Time**



“It’s nine past ten, Chan will be back from surgery in a hour or so- Thanks you for letting me stay”; there’s definitely something strange about an ex-wife and a now-boyfriend to wait side by side but they wouldn’t have it any other way, “Thanks you for being here, Mon.”

  1. **Goodbye**



The two men were holding hands, both exhausted for different reasons; Monica kissed the unconscious one’s forehead and then did the same for Joey, sitting at Chandler’s bedside: “I know you’ll be there for him” 

  1. **Eye**



Obviously, the first words that Joey said when Chandler finally opened his eyes were “How you doin’?”; Chandler did crack a smile.

  1. **Command**



“Relax”; as Joey starts to loosen his boyfriend’s hospital gown belt and slowly parts the light white fabric, Chandler hope his increasing heart rate won’t gather a bunch of medics in his hospital room, “I said, relax : you don’t want nurses to come here now, do you ?”            
  
45\. **Fool**

“Only a fool could love me- “; Chandler hushes him with a kiss, “Fine, here I am”.

  1. **Sing**



Facing his birthday cake, Chandler wonders if anyone in history has figure out what you’re supposed to do during those thirty embarrassing seconds of “Happyyyy Birthdayyy Chandler”. 

  1. **Wash**



Joey pulled him close, spooning him from behind, and kissed the slippery skin of Chandler’s shoulder; “I agree, this bathtub isn’t so small after all.”

  1. **Picture**



Sexting and meeting shouldn’t co-exist, thought Chandler trying to hide his boner beneath some folders but nevertheless downloading that shirtless suggestive picture Joey just sent him for further purposes.

  1. **Drive**



“I just got the part of the mysterious taxi driver- I’m gonna be so badass”, Chandler lowered his book, skeptical : “Joey, you did tell them that you don’t drive, didn’t you?”

  1. **Believe**



“Not so bad. Should I buy it?”; speechless, Chandler couldn’t help but ogling Joey, dressed in the finest tuxedo; “I think- I believe we should marry.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new set of words! Thanks for the kudos, you're so lovely ! <3

  1. **Supernova**  
  
“The twin’s headmaster just called: Erika broke the nose of a bully and kicked him repeatedly in the private- Ouch, parts-“said Chandler annoyed, “Joey, you’re not supposed to congratulate her !”  

  2. **Home**



          A random pop song can be heard from the kids’ bedroom while Joey is busy cooking those delicious traditional Saturday spaghetti and Chandler swore he’s never been happier.  

  1. **Hair**  
  
Chandler never knew he had a thing for salt-and-pepper hair until it happened to Joey.  

  2. **Sex**



          “Phoebe, I’m not telling you about my sex life-”, said Joey with a serious face that rapidly turned into an enthusiastic grin, “Fine, keep it to yourself: it’s both different and really great.”

  1. **Chocolate**



          “Joey, I’ve already told you chocolate isn’t a proper meal”; Joey frowns, with a mouth full: “Cocoa grows on tree, ‘must be healthy.”

  1. **Jealousy**  
  
“I was wondering if you miss women sometimes- I mean- “, Joey visibly understood what he intended to say, “Breast and the whole thing? From time to time”; disappointed, Chandler became moody for a while.  
  

  2. **Sensual**  
  
I should get upset more often thought Chandler as Joey was doing his best to brighten his mood, slowly licking the skin below his navel to- “Ooh, God.”  
  

  3. **Name**  
  
“Seriously, I don’t know if Trump is such a good name for our duckling.”  
  

  4. **Melody**



         “The girl I brought back- Melody, she-,” twenty-five years old Joey looked behind him, “She just got a whip out from her bag”; Chandler swore he could have died from laughing, “Great, you could redo the Indiana Jones movies scenes- Fine, I’m joking, you can hide in my bedroom if you want.”            

  1. **Taste**



          Forty-five years old Joey quickly put the handcuffs on him : “Here it goes, fifty shades of Tribbiani.”


End file.
